Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

[PeterM]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

First post...

Just picked up my BCG800. Also ordered a Single-wall filter set from Breville Customer Service...seems they are back in stock.

Cant wait to play with my new toy!

[Zenyatta]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Also ordered a Single-wall filter set from Breville Customer Service...seems they are back in stock.

Is this what I need for my Cafe Roma? or do I just ask for a single walled basket? I am so confused after reading these links

you definitely need to get your hands on single wall filters. Look at the below links:
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1257732993
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1313474042
... or do a search for "single wall filter breville", you want the one for the 800ES or BES820. Dont get the one for the BES860, as its too big for your PF. You can also get one from Pullman, or get a Krups one.

People are saying that the breville ones are leaking, exploding etc. Do I get a krups one? I am really not confident doing any sort of modification to my machine. Should I go to the breville factory outlet? there is one in the city near me...

:-?

[Zenyatta]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Also ordered a Single-wall filter set from Breville Customer Service...seems they are back in stock.

Is this what I need for my Cafe Roma? or do I just ask for a single walled basket? I am so confused after reading these links

you definitely need to get your hands on single wall filters. Look at the below links:
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1257732993
http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1313474042
... or do a search for "single wall filter breville", you want the one for the 800ES or BES820. Dont get the one for the BES860, as its too big for your PF. You can also get one from Pullman, or get a Krups one.

http://thingscoffee.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=109
Will this one suit the ESP8C? It doesnt seem to say exactly.

People are saying that the breville ones are leaking, exploding etc. Do I get a krups one? I am really not confident doing any sort of modification to my machine. Should I go to the breville factory outlet? there is one in the city near me...

:-?

[Beaker1134]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Hey, like many before me in this post Im a newbie as well and have just purchased a BFG800.
There were no shims and it grinds nice out of the box, Will choke my Unico Splendor on the last 3 settings. With my limited knowledge on this coffee subject  (which will change no doubt within this great site) it seams to grind fairly consistently) 

[Bames]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Zenyatta,
Call Breville and ask for part number BSWF100. They work great, dont explode, so if theyre in stock grab them. Factory outlet might have them, call and ask for that part number. If not, go to the Pullman site, he has the double filter, this is all you really need.
Now, sorry to be the police but your questions isnt really on topic, its more for the "equipment under $500" thread.
Back on topic?

[AngusNorthcote]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Just dialled my new BCG800 in for my two shot and 6 shot stove tops.  Took me a while because I ignored my previous experience and tried to set things up following the onscreen advice for percolator.  Big mistake.  This just made for too coarse a grind and too thin a coffee. 

Three bits of advice for those setting this brilliant piece of equipment up:

1. Just concentrate on getting your grind right first.  Once youve done that then you can think about volume control.

2. If youre setting up for stove top, go for a grind setting near the middle in espresso and tamp down reasonably firmly.  I tamped down more than I used to with my old blade grinder and was able to extract some nice citrus notes from a bag of Lavazza that was 3 months too old.

3. Keep the lid of your stove top open so you can see what the early brew is doing - my best results happened when the perc was thick and obvious oil was being extracted.

Id be really interested to hear what others are doing with their stove tops in this area.  I used the old beans tonight because I thought it would take me a while to hit the right notes (and I was right). 

Im looking forward to putting some fresh Padre beans in tomorrow and seeing what I can achieve.

[Zenyatta]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

sorry to be the police but your questions isnt really on topic, its more for the "equipment under $500" thread.
Back on topic?

Whoops. Sorry :-[ thanks for your help though.

[AngusNorthcote]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Bit more of a review.


The thing about geeks is geeks obsess.  They know ridiculous amounts about particular topics and have not acquired that data without acquiring some strong opinions along the way: there is no greater oxymoron than “indifferent geek”.

There are a lot of pejorative terms that are associated with geeks: obsessive, anal, control freak.  But is it wrong to have standards based on knowledge and want to be able to live up to them? Is it wrong to see the appropriate constants for life’s variables and want to achieve them?

Breville doesn’t seem to think so.  The company that is more famous for thirty dollar sandwich presses and domestic level juicers has decided to step it up a notch in the domestic coffee market with the BCG800 Smart Grinder, which is well designed, well engineered and beautifully constructed.

The BCG800 also has a big plus: as well as allowing you to control how fine your grind is it also provides portion control: the same amount of coffee at the same level of coarseness every time. Once you’ve got your settings right there are no day old grounds sitting in the machine because you only grind as many beans as you need.

For those of us who don’t have the money to fork out $1500 for a domestic espresso machine and instead rely on a $60 stovetop espresso for our caffeine hit at home, the BCG800 is a fantastic innovation. Consistent grind and portion control with most of the mess contained within the bounds of the machine mean it is possible to produce a more consistent and fresh domestic coffee without needing to churn through coffee that is ground off-site.  A simple 125g of roasted beans from the local micro roaster can cover all requirements for the week.

There is a batch of other things worth noting, even though they wouldn’t matter if the quality of the grind or the quantity control were lacking. The small visual and physical footprint of the BCG800 means that it sits comfortably in a domestic kitchen.  Simple application of magnets combined with build quality means that you’re able to easily slip components in and out for cleaning.  Added to small things like automatic sleep, it’s clear Breville want to make something better than tomorrow’s landfill.

There are also some rants to go with the raves: the volume presets are based around cups with graded pluses and minuses.  This is fine for standard group head bowls but not so useful for stovetop bowls.  Having a volume setting with linear increments would be useful.  It’s also not that easy to accurately put stovetop bowls directly under the grinder’s outlet – maybe it would be possible to create stovetop bowl holders like the group head bowl holders.

These are minor niggles, though. A geek would be satisfied that this machine can provide the right amount of the right kind of grind at the press of a button, but with the BCG800, Breville has gone a step beyond.

[Zenyatta]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I have opened my smart grinder but have no idea whether or not it requires extra shims. Is there a way to check for sure? I didnt see any included in the pack as such.

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I have opened my smart grinder but have no idea whether or not it requires extra shims. Is there a way to check for sure? I didnt see any included in the pack as such.

Yeah make some coffee if the grind is right no shims needed simple ;D

[Rusty]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Yeah make some coffee if the grind is right no shims needs simple

Or to put it another way:
If you cant grind fine enough for espresso then shims are needed

[dr.a.j.pickering]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Yeah make some coffee if the grind is right no shims needed simple

Or to put it another way:
If you cant grind fine enough for espresso then shims are needed 

cup half full?

[Rusty]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

cup half full?

:-?

[Hamburglar]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I jumped on the bandwagon and picked up a Smart Grinder this morning. Its my first lectric grinder. And I seriously cant believe how much it has improved my coffee (aeropress). Its freakin delicious!

Im really happy!

[artman]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

What were you using previously for the aeropress? I want to get an AP for travelling (and hand grinder).

Cheers